The invention relates to the technical field of filtration systems for swimming pools.
More specifically, the invention relates to the compact water filtration units used in swimming pools. These units comprise, in a known way, a “filtration” compartment and a “pumping” compartment. The filtration compartment is designed to be submerged in the water of the swimming pool. This compartment houses one or more filtration means of any appropriate known type. The pumping compartment is situated on the outside of the swimming pool. It is usually buried, and has one or more pumps for sucking the water in and returning it, as indicated in the rest of this description. The pumping and filtration compartments are connected by a common part which usually straddles the walls of the swimming pool, whatever its specific design. This part of the overall filtration unit has the shape, very approximately, of an upside-down staple. Examples of this type of filtration unit can be found in the teachings of patents FR 97.01642, FR 98.03790 and FR 99.12856.
In essence, the filtration means, whatever its particular design, is connected, by pipe elements, to the pump or pumps installed in the pumping compartment. More particularly, these pipe elements are connected to the suction intake of the pump. Other pipe elements are connected to the pump's return outlet where the filtered water is returned to the swimming pool by means of for example nozzles on a part of the filtration compartment.
Clearly, the suction and return pipe systems are made up of several elements connected by elbows or the like to form the connection between the filtration compartment and the suction compartment. For reasons of ease of installation and to keep costs down, these pipe elements are of round section and advantageously made of PVC, conforming with standard components as widely available in the trade. Specifically, the use of this kind of round-section pipe element keeps costs down and enables different types of connection to be made.
Because of the need to make a circuit to carry the water between the filtration compartment and pumping compartment, the suction and return pipes are also present in the common connecting part between the two compartments. In this area the suction and return pipes are usually placed side by side in a horizontal plane.
As a result, these round-section pipes occupy a certain height, so that the common connecting part appears above the edge of the swimming pool. The same is also true of the filtration and pumping compartments.
In other words, the filtration unit as a whole, in the prior art, must project high enough to allow the suction and return pipes to pass across. This excess height is not always very appealing to the eye and can interfere with the integration of the complete filtration unit in the coping and areas around the pool.